SynthesisEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2025
Why do young men not seek help for affective mental health issues? A systematic review of perceived barriers and facilitators among adolescent boys and young men.
Synthesis in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed.
- The impact of a gender transformative school-based suicide prevention workshop in Australia: adolescent boys' perspectives.Health promotion international · 2025Trial
- Digital Mental Health Promotion Services for Youth: A Qualitative Study of Help-Seeking Through Mindhelper.dk.JMIR human factors · 2026Article
- Article
- Suicidal thoughts, problem gambling severity and utilisation of health care and social services: A population-based study in Finland.Addictive behaviors reports · 2026Article
- Willingness to use video-game or gamified application-based interventions to improve or strengthen emotional regulation, mental health, and mental well-being.Internet interventions · 2026Article
- "To make a positive difference": diverse youth perspectives on getting involved in mental health research.Research involvement and engagement · 2026Article
- Online Discussions of Men's Mental Health on Reddit and YouTube: Cross-Sectional Mixed-Methods Infodemiological Study.JMIR infodemiology · 2026Article
- Depression and psychiatric help-seeking as joint outcomes: a Bayesian multilevel analysis of household-level dependence.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2026Article
- Mental health disparities by sex: unravelling determinants and changes in the refugee resettlement process over a decade.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Article
- Support system networks: how support systems shape problematic social media use, mental health, and substance use in Czech adolescents.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2026Article
- "I wanna live in a world where change is possible": co-designing guidance for inclusive eating, exercise, and body image psychopathology outreach resources for men.Journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- Disconnection from care among adolescents with psychotic experiences.Psychiatry research · 2026Article
- Joint effects of sleep duration and sleep difficulty on suicidal ideation: evidence from NHANES 2005-2018.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Recruitment strategies and participant motivations in a digital randomized controlled trial for the prevention of anxiety disorders: the prevANS study.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Development of a tool for assessing awareness of consequences of suicide.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Age-related sex differences in factors associated with suicidal ideation: a short-term longitudinal study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Mortality Trends in Patients Aged 25 and Older With Comorbid COPD and Diabetes Mellitus in the United States: A CDC WONDER Database Study From 2000 to 2023.Canadian respiratory journal · 2026Article
- Associations of self-compassion and resilience with help-seeking among Chinese athletes: the mediating role of self-stigma and sex differences.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- How stressful life events are associated with depression: the mediating pathway of security in a clinical adolescent sample.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- "International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Men are less likely to seek help for their mental health than women, but less is known about the specific patterns of help-seeking in adolescent boys and young men. This is concerning as adolescent boys and young men have high suicide rates but a low take-up of services. It is therefore of particular importance that the access needs of this group are understood. This review sought to identify the barriers and facilitators faced by adolescent boys and young men in help-seeking for affective mental health disorders. A search of the PubMed, APA PsycInfo, and Cochrane databases identified 3961 articles, of which 12 met the inclusion criteria. Six of the studies were qualitative, five were quantitative and one used mixed methods. Two authors independently extracted data and assessed the quality of the articles. Five key themes were identified, including the impact of social norms, with the subthemes of conformity to masculine norms and self-stigma, limited availability of information about mental health, and 'male-friendly' mental health literacy campaigns. Other themes referred to the help-seeking preferences of adolescent boys and young men, in terms of informal or formal and online or offline help-seeking. Some of the factors were well-researched (e.g., conformity to masculine norms as a barrier) whereas other factors (e.g., self-compassion as a facilitator) were less researched. These barriers and facilitators need to be considered in the development of future strategies to improve the help-seeking behaviour of adolescent boys and young men.
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